Oh little town of Bethlehem... A Runner's dream! This little college town in PA is close to the home of Runner's World and the host of the festival and half marathon each year. This was my first year running.

Location:
Bethlehem steel was the second largest steel plant in the country and helped to produce the steel for the Empire State Building and Golden Gate Bridge. The skeleton of this is now known as Steel Stacks. This is the setting of the festival. Ample *free* parking and close proximity to many local restaurants and other treasures.

Registration:
Super easy Bib pick up that led you straight to the expo.

Expo:
Cramped. That's my only complaint. They had great vendors such as KT Tape and Balega socks but when it filled in it was pretty hard to navigate. One huge plus was that Ultima replenisher was there for free samples of their hydration mix that would be on course... DELICIOUS. I may be a convert. The *golden moment* of the expo was meeting Golden Harper, creator/founder of Altra Running. These are *the* only shoes I can wear or I wouldn't be running. To be able to thank him for this in person was really special.

Course:
Oh Bart Yasso. How we love you. But when the hills really kicked into overdrive and my body screamed, "Walk!" well... It's ok, we still love you Bart! I definitely didn't train well enough for the hills but in the end my results weren't bad at all and it was a actually a really well balanced uphill/downhill ratio. The local crowd support was awesome! People cheering along the way really helped encourage to push through. The neighborhoods were gorgeous and it was perfect weather so that helped too!

Post Race:
You were immediately greeted with the medal after the live announcer welcomed you home. There was more water and Ultima replenisher waiting. Photo personele snapped some shots, you could walk around a bit, then onto the chow! Granola bars, bagels, chocolate bars, and cookies... Runner's delight! There was a great live band and then the beer tent! They had a local brewery, Saucony Creek, that had two different kinds available and Whiteclaw hard seltzer was there. Both were delicious.

Added bonus:
BibRave Pros! Man, the place was crawling! I was able to meet folks I've been chatting with via twitter and elsewhere and that was really great. These folks have been so helpful in the online community and it was really great to meet with them and geek out on running! Plus, the national anthem was sung by none other than Jessica Ni Murphy (cofounder of BibRave). Really cool!

Overall:
This was a true runner's weekend! Such great experiences and really got me even more addicted to running! This will hopefully turn into a yearly tradition for my family especially since it's practically in our back yard!